A Loss of Innocence
by Silver-Pheonix2k5
Summary: Well, I've finally got it folks: THE NEXT CHAPTER! I hope you all like it as much as the last 4! R&R plz. :) and thx again for all the great reviews!
1. Chapter 1: A loss of Innocence

A Loss of Innocence Silver-Pheonix2k5  
  
I felt it all. I felt it pulse around me. The lines of code spoke to me as they surged about me. I felt everything. Every breath they took. Every heartbeat. Every thought. I never really felt alone. I guess that's what I get for being the One.  
  
I stood there in the middle of the crowded sidewalk. Bodies pushed around me, shoving me, grumbling. Busy thinking about their busy lives. They didn't even have a clue. Without me they had no hope. I was the savior of an entire world...an entire race counted on me.  
  
It was a fairly busy day in the city. People swarmed like ants, going back and forth across the car packed streets. Cabs honked, people hung out their windows yelling for the traffic to hurry. All of this, and none of it was really real.  
  
I walked down the street picking my way through the busy crowd. Morpheus would send us into the Matrix from time to time to look for the more "special minds" that we could free to help us on the outside. I simply like to walk around and think. I thought about the way it was before I was freed.  
  
"Excuse me sir."  
  
I turned to face the voice. It was a hot dog vendor, holding something in his hand.  
  
"Would you like to buy a hot dog?" he asked, pushing the white paper wrapped food toward me.  
  
I was stunned. No one had ever talked to me while I was in the Matrix. Most just carried on with their business. I looked down at the display of food and felt my stomach churn. It all looked so different, especially from the mushy, yellow protein mix that I had eaten every day for so long.  
  
"No," I replied, "But thank you."  
  
I walked down the street a little more until I came to the public basketball courts. An assortment of kids were playing basketball, carefree. I stopped by the fence and laced my hands in the chain-link fence, observing. So many lives. So many people to save. Where would I start? I couldn't just walk up to a crowd of people and tell them that they weren't free at all. That they were really slaves to a race that they couldn't see. People just weren't ready. A boy in a blue jersey jumped up and slammed dunked the ball into the net. His teammates cheered and shouted at the other team. I watched in amusement at the skill these kids displayed. If they only knew...  
  
Then, out of nowhere, a nagging twitch in the corner of my mind. Something was wrong.  
  
I spun right in time to see three agents with guns pointing right at me from across the street. I had almost no time to put up my hand before they were firing upon me. My hand grew warm and I felt the power surge through me, the energy move and tingle through my body. I pulled my strength from the world around me. The bullets stopped in mid-air in front of me.  
  
They continued to fire in vain while the crowd began to scream and hit the ground. Cars screeched to a halt. The children behind me on the courts hit the ground in terror. That's when the agents started advancing.  
  
"We have located the anomaly," one said into his headphone.  
  
"He bleeds like any other," said the second one.  
  
"We'll see about that," I replied. And it began.  
  
Punch, kick, block, left, right, up, back, jump. It was all so fast. But I felt as if I could see it all for just a second before it was happening. I snap kicked one to his head and sent him back across the now empty car packed street. People were fleeing, screaming for help as they ran. He hit the wall adjacent from me and lay upon the ground, giving me time to turn my attention on the other two.  
  
He started toward me about the same time the other began firing again. I put up my hand in defense to the shots, but the other was closing in on me. I couldn't hold them both. He began hitting me in the stomach, over and over, and I could feel my grip loosing on the bullets. Finally I had to use both of my hands on the one in front of me. The suspended bullets dropped to the ground. Fortunately enough for me he had to reload his gun.  
  
I began desperately to slam the agent in front of me in the ribs. Again and again, over and over, hoping he would lose strength. I heard the click of the gun magazine from the center of the street. No. Two gun magazines. Both agents were now in the street, both guns pointed at me. Both began to fire in unison.  
  
I spun the body of my beaten opponent around and used him as my shield. I crouched behind him, hoping no bullets would pass through. I felt his body rock and lurch as each shell hit him, until finally, both guns were out of ammo and I held the dead body of a policeman in front of me. It wouldn't take him long to find another host. I had to get out of here. I raised my fist high in the air, gathering power so that I could take off into the air, but something stopped me. A cry behind me.  
  
"Jeremy!" someone cried. I turned to face it and what I saw...  
  
The boy in the blue jersey was lying in the center of the court, his blue jersey stained with red. His friends sobbed in a scared huddle around him. One of the bullets had gotten by me.  
  
I...couldn't stop it...how could I let this happen?  
  
I turned back to my opponents. They had all three gathered back in the middle of the street. Guns loaded. Waiting for me. They would regret the day they were programmed.  
  
"You'll be sorry for that," I said, and stepped into the street.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: This takes place between the first and the second movie. The main character (if you couldn't tell) is none other than Neo himself. Hope you like it; this is my first and only one thus far. I plan on having a few more and plz review. 


	2. Chapter 2: Failed Redemption

Chapter 2 Failed Redemption  
  
Boom. I could feel my heart beating. My breath came fast. I felt pure hate rise up in my throat and stick there. How could I let this happen...?  
  
Boom. Was this my fault? Should I have not come here? I watched as the young boys friends shook him, called for him to get back up, to play with them only minutes before.... Before I came and ruined everything....  
  
Boom. I turned back to the three agents who now stood side by side in the middle of the street. Guns loaded, they were waiting for me. With every heartbeat the air around my pulsed with hate, sending ripples through the air. It was time...time for them to pay for what they had done.  
  
"I'm going to feel you scream." I said. And with that, I was out in the street in an instant.  
  
Invincible. They couldn't touch me. I ducked under their punches. Hit them in the ribs. Kicked them in the face. They couldn't touch me. My hate fueled me. I thought over and over of the happy face of the boy that now lay behind me in a pool of his own blood. He would never smile, never laugh again. And it was all because of me...  
  
I leaped high over their heads, flipping forward. One reached out for me, I scissored my legs and sent him backwards onto the ground. I landed and turned fast with one fist out, striking one across the face into a parked car. The remaining one punched at me. He punched high, toward my face. I ducked low, reaching into his jacket. He stopped when he saw what he was faced with.  
  
For a moment I paused. I held his own gun straight to his face. My resolve flicked for an instant. Is this right? I wondered. I saw the look of fear in his face. The understanding of what was going to happen to him. But, I looked over his shoulder at the child on the ground...and pulled the trigger. He flew backwards onto the asphalt, leaving only the body of his host behind. A Postal carrier. Then I realized something. I wasn't hurting them; I was hurting their hosts. But they would hurt. They would feel pain.  
  
I walked across the road to one of the two remaining that lie on the ground. The one that was shooting. Yes, he would feel pain. He would pay for what he had done. I reared back my hand, a drove it into his chest. I reached for his programming, reached for his sense of pain. He began to scream. He screamed louder and more painful than anything I had ever heard. He screamed like a man on fire, in pure and unreachable pain. His began to fade. His eyes turned chalk white. I felt him die right in my hands. I felt him come apart. Felt him unravel. And as quickly as the screaming started, it stopped. He lay flat on the ground.  
  
I stood and turned toward the remaining one. He looked at me, and broke into a run in the opposite direction. But he would pay for his crimes too. He would not live to kill again.  
  
I extended my arms and pulled energy from the Matrix. From the ground. From the air. From the cars in the streets and the clouds in the sky. My entire body became hot. I felt a great pulsating energy coming from within. That energy was for him, and I released it toward his retreating figure.  
  
Like water, the world around me rippled. The great ball of fire rolled down the empty streets toward him. Glass shattered from windows, from cars, and streetlights were ripped from the ground in its wake. It struck its target. And there was no trace left of him except the chaos that was left in the city streets. And for just a moment, the world stopped. Everything was perfectly still. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my shades, fitting them around my head. I had won.  
  
I turned back to the courts. I felt my stomach drop. Every child was now looking at me. Right at me. At my very soul. They had mixed expressions on their faces. Some of fright, some of sadness, some of hate. And I felt as if every good thing that had ever happened to me was unimportant...this was my fault, and they knew that.  
  
"For what its worth...I'm sorry." I said, and bolted into the sky.  
  
A/N: R&R Please. And THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the great reviews! They were a great self-esteem boost that helped me spit this one out right now. 


	3. Chapter 3: The Pain of Conscience

Chapter 3 The Pain of Conscience  
  
The wind stung my face as I flew over the city. It was nearing midday. A plane rumbled by somewhere overhead. I kept above the clouds as not to attract too much attention. I didn't feel like being bothered at the moment. My mind hung heavy with thoughts. All I could see were those staring faces...  
  
I shook my head clear and bolted straight up. I had to get my mind off such things. I had a job to do. I stopped and stood suspended in the air. The world around me was so calm, so serene. I was alone. Alone...but to me alone never felt alone. When I was in the Matrix alone always felt so crowded. I took one last look around me. It was so beautiful. But the sad fact was: none of it was real.  
  
From inside my jacket my phone rang. I pulled it and hit the slide, putting it to my ear.  
  
"Yes?" I asked, wondering what was the matter.  
  
"Just checking in on you Neo, we were all outside fixing the damage from the Sentinel attack." Sparks replied. So they hadn't seen...  
  
"How are things looking there?" he asked.  
  
"Positively beautiful," I replied looking around, "Not much going on around here." I lied. I can't let them know, I thought. They would think less of me...  
  
"Ok, well I'll set you up an exit because we could really use another set of hands," he said, pausing for a moment. I could hear the clicking of his keyboard. "Hmmm.... Ok, I've got you one at 13th and...Neo look out!"  
  
But I had already heard it. In my conversation I had let myself drift too far down. In front of me rose a helicopter but that's not what worried me. It was the agent that was mounted on the Fifty-caliber machine gun in the open bay doors. I could see him pull the trigger.  
  
Within an instant hundreds of rounds flew around me, past me, over me, under me. There was no way I could stay in the air and freeze the shots at the same time. I just wasn't ready for it yet. Instinct set in. I went into a slanted dive toward the tall buildings for cover. The wind tore at my face. But I wasn't going fast enough. The chopper was still behind me. I could feel it gaining on me, closing the already small gap. It was a smaller model designed for speed. I clenched my teeth and tried to speed up. The buildings looked so far away. I hoped I could make it in time.  
  
The gun at the front of the helicopter opened fire. I could feel them leave the chamber. I could see the line of code that made up every bullet, every noise they made caused ripples through the air. And for a moment, I felt like everything slowed almost to a screeching halt.  
  
I reached for the world around me, the power that held this entire program together. I went low, letting a few go over. They passed close enough to me that I could see the circular pattern they made in the air. I went left, and watched as they gracefully parted the air, searching for something to stop them. I went up, letting another volley pass. A new wave of shots came. Left, right, up. Everything was so slow. So calm. This was the power of The One...  
  
Suddenly, pain shot through my mind. A passing shot tore the flesh from my shoulder. My mind clouded and I was ripped violently from my slow, calm world. Pain. All I could feel was a great, throbbing pain. I began to fall. I rolled over and grabbed my wound. The bullet had passed straight through. It felt as if someone had shoved a hot iron through my right arm. My phone flew out of my pocket and toward the pavement, which is where I was headed...  
  
I fell, faster and faster, toward the ground. I was facing up and gaining speed. I saw the helicopter. It hung in the air, watching my decent. I tried to reach out, tried to hold on to something. I couldn't focus. I couldn't change the air around me to support my weight... all I could feel was pain...pain...pain. A building appeared at my side. Windows flew by. I swear I could see faces watching as I passed. I was getting very close to the ground.  
  
I closed my eyes and waited for the end...  
  
A/: Hi all you readers, I'm hoping to spit out a new chapter every day or two. I figured a cliffhanger would do some good. ;) Hope you guys like it. R&R plz. Thx for all the great reviews. 


	4. Chapter 4: The Strength of Love

Chapter 4: The Strength of Love  
  
"You can't die...because I love you." She had said to me, as I lie dead in my chair. When Agent Smith had shot me. The first time I had really felt the power of The One. The first time I had ever felt the power of love. I could see Trinity in my mind. So beautiful. So graceful. I could make out every line, every feature of her face. She loved me. She wouldn't give up on me. She loved me. I couldn't give up on myself...I could do this...I didn't die then, and I wasn't going to die now...  
  
I opened my eyes.  
  
The helicopter had begun its decent to the ground. It was about fifty feet above me, sure that I was going to leave a dent in the pavement. They were wrong. I twisted my body over so that I faced the ground. I was getting closer. I could see the looks on people's faces as I came closer to the ground. I held my arms straight out beside me, my right arm throbbed with pain. It was almost blinding me. I pushed it to the back of my mind. I had to focus.  
  
The air hummed around my body. I could feel the heat on my face from the sun-baked pavement below. I gathered my strength. My body grew warm again. Somewhere in the back of my mind my shoulder screamed with an unbearable pain. My descent slowed, but not fast enough. I clenched my teeth and tightened every muscle. My jaw ached. Fatigue set in. I had to push harder. The passing windows slowed down until I could almost count them. The people below started screaming. I was almost at a complete stop, hovering about 15 feet above the ground. I was still falling around 20 miles per hour or so. The frenzy in the street was enormous, almost as big as the pain that now began to course through my body. I couldn't hold it and longer. My focus slipped, as well as my grip on the air. I plummeted the rest of the way down.  
  
I hit hard. I felt my teeth dig into my cheek and my lip. Pain shot through my entire body. I was alive but didn't feel so far from death. I pushed myself with my one good arm off the pavement and stood up. I spat blood onto the ground, and I was pretty sure at least one of my ribs was broken. Blinding pain clouded my eyes with every breath I took. But that wasn't compared to what came next.  
  
The helicopter had seen that I had caught myself and had circled back for another pass. It came barreling down the street just a few inches off the ground. It opened fire, but with no room to maneuver the shots just flew past, hitting random cars and sending people scattering. I had to get out of the streets and away from people. I had to get back in the air. I raised my left arm and, with what strength I had left, took off into the air and down the street. They gave chase.  
  
I kept close to the buildings on the right, forcing the agent on the left to give up his turret position on the left of the chopper and fire at me only with his gun. He fired off shots at me, left and right. I couldn't focus on the bullets, so I simple dipped up and down in the air. Flying was taking too much out of me. I couldn't dodge and fly at the same time. It was just too much. I sloped my body up hoping to catch a draft that would lift me so I didn't have to try so hard.  
  
Bullets flew by my ear. He was getting awfully close. It wouldn't be long for him to zero in on me. I had to find cover. I pointed myself toward the top of a skyscraper.  
  
I landed hard on the top. I wasn't worried about gracefulness at this very moment in time. I crouched low behind a vent and held my arm close to my chest. Blood soaked the front of my wardrobe. I had lost my phone, so I had no way of calling Link for help. I heard the chopper ascend behind me. I pulled myself in closer to the vent, hoping they would think that I just flew right past. "Wait," I thought, "How can I truly call myself The One if I'm sitting here hiding from my enemy like a coward?" I had to do something besides hide. I had to fight. Taking a deep breath I stood up, and turned to face them. Two of the three jumped out onto the room with me while one stayed and circled in the helicopter. I let go of my arm and let it hang at my side like the other. I couldn't show them my pain. I couldn't let them know I bled. I didn't know what I was going to do. But I knew one thing for sure...  
  
This was going to hurt.  
  
Tbc  
  
A/N: Hey everyone hoped you like it. I'm trying to turn out one a day for all of your hardcore readers out there. I've found that I love writing this!!! ITS GREAT!! R&R Plz and thx for all your reviews ( 


	5. Chapter 5: A Dose of Reality

A Dose of Reality Chapter 5  
  
I felt all the blood drain from my head. Everything was blurry around the corners of my vision. The world around me spun at a million miles per hour. There, right in the middle of my Ferris wheel world were two agents. They were the only things keeping me here. My whole body was clammy, and I could even feel my legs trembling as I stood there. My shoulder to my waist was soaked in blood. My blood. But they were not going to win. I wouldn't let them.  
  
I took in a breath and felt the trembling stop. My revolving world slowed and halted. The cloudiness around my eyes cleared, and I also noticed the triumphant smiles had vanished from the faces of my opponents. It was time.  
  
I bolted across the rooftop, taking the closest agent by surprise. I focused my mind on him, using my wounded arm to block and snapping my good arm here and there, landing and deflecting blows. The other hung back a ways, observing as he made his cautious approach toward me. Cautious...he must have been the one I had in the streets....  
  
I leaned back, to the side, ducked under punches. He couldn't touch me. I was like water, fluid and graceful. Rolling this way and that. The pain that I felt had disappeared somewhere into the back of my mind, along with worry, conscience, and doubt. I knew I could beat them. I felt I could. I was The One.  
  
The second agent came upon me. Still using the one arm and keeping the other lose to my chest; I invited him in to our fray. Predicting their movements was easy. I used their bodies against them, moving behind each one and making them my shields. This was my fight. They couldn't touch me. I just had to find a way to stop them for long enough for me to get to a phone...  
  
I bent backwards to avoid being booted in the face and, with one hand, cart wheeled to the side. I just had to hope that they would keep this hand-to-hand. I wasn't sure if I could dodge the shots if they sent them toward me. Which meant, in short, I had to beat them quick and get rid of the remaining one who was still circling warily in the helicopter. Before this got ugly again. Before someone else got hurt...like...like that boy...  
  
My mind slipped for an instant. I slid back to that moment in time when I'd seen that happy young boy playing with his friends become a ghost of a memory. Just because I'd been there...it was...my...fault...That's when I lost my focus.  
  
One of my punches went too high, giving my combatant a perfect opportunity to take the upper hand. He grabbed me by my wrist and wrenched my arm. My feet came out from under me and I felt my feet come out from under me. I slammed the concrete roof hard and all my air escaped from my lungs. I had hardly taken a breath before he had slung me into the small building that held the stairs. My head exploded with color and I hit the ground in a pile of sheet rock and concrete. I had to move...I had to get up...to fight...  
  
But he was already upon me. He reached down, and with one hand, grabbed me by my wounded shoulder and lifted me off my feet. White, hot searing pain burst throughout my whole body. I screamed out in pain. I could feel his thumb dig deeply into the still fresh bullet hole. Both of my hands were around his wrist, struggling to hold myself up, but it was in vain. With a smile of pure satisfaction he began walking me toward the edge of the roof. I tried to fight, but the cloudiness had come back once again. I was around everything. My senses started to dull. I felt dizzy.  
  
He took me to the edge of the roof and slammed me down on the ground so that my head hung over the edge. With one hand still on my wound, he wrapped the other hand around my neck. I felt him squeezing the life out of me...I was beginning to slip away. I found myself thinking...just thinking "Maybe if I just close my eyes and go to sleep.... I'll wake up...right there next to Trinity...and it'll all be ok...just sleep...sleep...". I knew I had to do something fast...but what? About that time, my assailant spoke.  
  
"You see," he said gleefully, "He bleeds just like any other human. And he can die like one too."  
  
"Oh...yeah...?" I said back, struggling for consciousness and air "You...forgot...one thing..."  
  
"Oh really," he said with a smile. "And what's that?"  
  
"You can't fly.......and I can...."  
  
TBC  
  
A/N Sorry to all you hardcore fans out there. I know it's been a while since I've updated, and believe me; I've been chased by the angry mobs already. So here it is. Chapter 5 of my (god knows how long) series. But as long as you keep reading them, Ill keep writing them. Good Luck out there,  
  
Pheonix 


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